Intro:

Wins for Svetlana Kuznetsova and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova as Russia claim 2-0 lead over Germany in the Fed Cup World Group semi-final in Sochi, Russia on Saturday (April 18).

Script:

Svetlana Kuznetsova and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova beat Julia Goerges and Sabine Lisicki to give Russia a 2-0 lead over Germany in the Fed Cup semi-finals on Saturday.

Kuznetsova took advantage of an erratic Goerges who made 45 unforced errors in the match to win the first set 6-4.

The 73rd-ranked Goerges seemed to struggle on the slippery clay court in Sochi, losing her point in her serve in the second set.

This was also won in straight sets after Goerges's shot hit wide, and Kuznetsova claimed her match point in a 6-4, 6-4 victory.

Later on in the day, it was Germany's Sabine Lisicki who was asserting a rapid lead against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, breaking twice to win the first set 6-4.

The game was a tense one. After Lisicki broke back to level Pavlyuchenkova's lead, the Russian won the tiebreak to claim the second set 7-6 and send the match into a third set.

But Lisicki fought back fiercely in the third set, and managed to overcome a 4-0 lead with her fierce forehand.

In the end it was Pavlyuchenkova that prevailed eventually after she claimed victory in her third match point to win the game 4-6, 7-6, 6-3 in front of a jubilant home crowd.